Ureaplasma diversum infection in vitro alters prostaglandin E2 and prostaglandin F2a production by bovine endometrial cells without affecting cell viability

Bovine epithelial and stromal cells of the endometrium were inoculated with Ureaplasma diversum, pathogenic strain 2312, at 10(6) or 10(3) color-changing units (ccu)/ml in the presence of 1% fetal bovine serum (depleted of steroids by dextran-charcoal treatment) to assess the effect of infection on prostaglandin biosynthesis. When the inoculum of U. diversum was ccu/ml, the concentration of U. diversum in the culture medium decreased with time. U. diversum was found on the epithelial and stromal cell monolayers, increasing in titer 100-fold, indicating that attachment and eventually growth occurred. When the inoculum was 10(3) ccu/ml, the titer of U. diversum remained the same or increased in the supernatant and increased on epithelial and stromal cells. The effect of infection was evaluated by measurement of the primary prostaglandin produced by each cell type, prostaglandin F2 alpha for epithelial cells and prostaglandin E2 for stromal cells. Infection with U. diversum significantly decreased prostaglandin F2 alpha accumulation, by 44.7% +/- 6.0% at 10(6) ccu/ml (P less than or equal to 0.005) and 15.8% +/- 53% at 10(3) ccu/ml (P less than or equal to 0.05) in epithelial cells. Prostaglandin E2 accumulation by stromal cells was decreased by 34.0% +/- 4.0% at 10(6) ccu/ml (P less than or equal to 0.001) and by 13.5% +/- 2.7% at 10(3) ccu/ml (P less than or equal to 0.005). Infection with 10(6) ccu/ml did not alter endometrial cell viability, as shown by protein measurement, trypan blue dye exclusion, and cell plating efficiency tests. Thus, alterations in prostaglandin production were not due to cell deterioration. These observations suggest that U. diversum can alter prostagiandin E2 and prostaglandin F2 alpha patterns in primary cultures of bovine endometrial cells without affecting cell viability.